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18th Jul 2023

Novak Djokovic fined £6,000 for destroying racket during Wimbledon final

Charlie Herbert

Novak Djokovic fined £6,000 for destroying racket during Wimbledon final

The fine will be deducted from his runner-up cheque

Novak Djokovic has been fined more than £6,000 for smashing his racquet during his Wimbledon men’s singles final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.

The Serb lost in five sets to the Spaniard on Sunday, his first defeat at Wimbledon since 2018 and first defeat on Centre Court since 2013.

In the fifth and final set of the match, the 36-year-old’s serve was broken by the 20-year-old prodigy in the third game of the set. This was after Djokovic had slipped during the decisive rally on break point, and had missed chances to break Alcaraz himself in the game before.

Clearly Djokovic had reached boiling point, and as he returned to his chair, he launched his racket into the net post, turning it into a mangled mess.

He was immediately issued with a warning for a code violation for the transgression by umpire Fergus Murphy.

The money will be deducted from his runner-up cheque of £1.175m.

The break ended up being crucial as Alcaraz held serve for the rest of the set to triumph at the All England Club in a 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory after four hours and 42 minutes.

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